Red Sox: Battle for the fifth rotation spot down to three candidates

The Underdog

The darkhorse in the race might be Johnson, but don’t sleep on him. Whatever his role with the team ends up being, he’ll be an important contributor. As a spot starter last year, Johnson gave the Red Sox quality innings in key moments. Without him, the injury-ravaged rotation might not have held up as well as it did. He’s willing and ready to do whatever the team asks of him. As the fifth starter or a long reliever, he’ll have tremendous value this year.

Johnson is certainly the good-will candidate. He’s earned the respect of the fans and the organization because of his willingness to travel back and forth between the majors and minors. No matter the result, it somehow always seemed clear that he put his heart into each start.

Johnson has no experience as a reliever, whether in the minors or the majors, so judging his chances for success in that role presents a challenge. Fangraphs indicates that he’s better in lower-leverage spots, and he also seems to get better as the season gets older.

He’s also about as successful against lefties as he is against righties. Johnson’s work as a spot starter could indicate he’s a good candidate to work in long relief, but there’s no indication the bullpen would protect him from the things he struggles with as a starter. He’s not the obvious choice to take the fifth rotation spot, but he’s also not the best candidate to join the ‘pen.